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> Results: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
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Many video games have some sort of gimmick: EA Games' "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent" lets you be a bad guy in the James Bond universe, Ubisoft's "Prince of Persia" titles allow you to manipulate time by pausing or rewinding the game and Konami's "Karaoke Revolution" ships with a microphone to sing into.
The attention-grabber in EA Games' new "Oddworld Stranger's Wrath" is its weapons system, which consists of live alien critters, such as exploding Boombats or Piranha-like Fuzzles that attack the closest enemy when fired into a crowd. And the gimmick works -- this fourth game in the 8-year-old series is arguably the best thus far. In this 3-D action-adventure title, gamers assume the role of the Stranger, an alien bounty hunter commissioned to track down a host of bizarre outlaws. Consider it a cross between "Star Wars" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," an odd mix of fantasy science fiction and old spaghetti westerns. The Stranger accepts missions from the Bounty Store, and then follows a map to track down the fugitives, such as Filthy Hands Floyd or The Looten Duke. If successful, the Stranger collects the cash reward for bagging the baddie, which can be used to purchase better weapons at the county store. New items can also be bought, including brass knuckles, clip extenders or stamina boosters.  Eventually, the Stranger will face his toughest challenge to date, but the enormous bounty is well worth the risk. Or so he thinks. "Oddworld Stranger's Wrath" is played from a third-person perspective for most of the game, for tasks such as climbing ropes, jumping across chasms or engaging in fistfights. But players will also need to toggle to a first-person view to look through binoculars, target enemies with a double-barrel crossbow or activate a faraway switch with a projectile. The "live" ammo consists of Stunkz that emit a poisonous gas to choke enemies and Stingbees that can be fired in rapid succession like a machinegun before swarming the outlaws. Zappflies are your only unlimited ammo, and they're ideal for collecting and retrieving other ammo types who graze the outdoor areas. Ammo upgrades include of Riot Slugs that explode in mid-air and spray shrapnel to the area, while the fowl-mouthed Howler Punks can lure enemies into a trap. "Live" ammunition is a cute concept that doesn't grow tiresome. In fact, strategy must be employed when deciding which critters to use in a given situation. Fugitives are worth more alive than dead, but they will be harder to capture. After the brawl, players must walk up to the stunned (or deceased) outlaw to press the X button on the Xbox controller, which sucks him up into a bag with a kind of portable vacuum cleaner. Hey, the game is called "Oddworld" for a reason. "Oddworld Stranger's Wrath" is a lot more action-heavy and violent than past "Oddworld" titles that relied more on puzzle-solving (1997's "Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee") or cooperative teamwork (2001's "Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee"). That said, "Stranger's Wrath" is just as humorous and entertaining, and ultimately, it's a more gratifying adventure than its predecessors because of its fun game-play mechanic ﾖ albeit it a gimmick -- that remains fresh until its climactic conclusion. 
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is a great action game which works well as a teen title, primarily due to a game design which rewards players for choosing less-violent solutions and for innovative problem solving. This not to say the game is non-violent, sanitized, or without color ﾖ it is quite the opposite and manages to be entertaining to both adults and teens alike.
From a violence standpoint, Stranger's Wrath is predominantly a First Person Shooter, and the game centers on the Stranger's use of a crossbow to either kill or incapacitate his enemies. The crossbow itself is the game's main teen-friendly innovation: the shooting of live critters from the bow eliminates blood from the game, and while the Stranger still inflicts damage, it is represented cartoon-fashion instead, complete with stars spinning around enemies' heads. The crossbow also encourages strategic thought, as most of the situation-specific problems to solve in the game revolve around choosing the right ammo types. The correct ammo strategy for a given situation may not always be evident ﾖ especially to younger teens ﾖ but thankfully the more difficult missions have a built-in hint system which kicks-in after few failures occur, providing just enough information to eliminate the potential of an overly frustrating encounter. Another teen-friendly aspect of the game is the live capture of bad guys. While the Stranger can kill all of the enemies in the game, he gets rewarded (in the form of higher bounties) for capturing bad guys alive. Acquiring money or "moolah" is a primary focus in the game, so when given a choice between killing a foe or capturing a foe alive, the best call is almost always for the Stranger to go for a live capture. The reward system is even more evident in the boss-monster bounties, where capturing a boss alive can net the Stranger two- or three-times as much moolah as killing the boss outright. The language in the game can run a little on the coarse side ﾖ about what you'd find in a "not-quite-R" PG-13 movie, though the language used is typically humorous and serves a purpose by adding a dash of wild-west flavor to the dialog. Finally, the overall storyline of Stranger's Wrath is also teen-friendly. As the story opens, the Stranger's main motivation is to get cash to pay for an operation to eliminate an embarrassing "problem" of his. As the story progresses, the Stranger comes to realize that his "problem" is not a problem at all, but is instead a difference that is both something to be embraced as well as an advantage in his line of work ﾖ and something which ultimately makes the Stranger a hero and savior to creatures in need. Kid Factor by John Pollock Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "Oddworld" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath |
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